They played fast but they didn’t rush. They soared because they stayed grounded.

West Islip scored the first seven goals of the second half and turned a tight game at the half into a rout, taking down defending county champ Bay Shore, 16-9, Thursday, in a Suffolk girls lacrosse Division I game at West Islip. Both teams are 3-1 in league play.

“In the first half, we were a little nervous and we tried to rush it,” said West Islip attack Loren Ziegler, who scored three of her four goals in the second half.

“Everyone shot better and we won most of the draws in the second half,” said Lions attack Erin Byrnes, who scored three of her five goals in the second half. Continue reading →

See that? The blogosphere gets prime placement- front and center. This clown from the East Ghetto tried to tell us that the sign was centered when it wasn’t, so two Chaminade guys stepped in with a tape measurer, equations and general capability.

Needless to say, the job was done correctly with O’Shea and I on the scene. We’re going to make one amendment to lower it from the ceiling, but regardless, it’s centered in prime placement. The blog is where it belongs.

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Envision it now. It’s been a scorching day in Delaware or wherever your summer lax tournament is being held. You’ve played two games, but you have one more. You can’t take off your socks, and sneakers aren’t that comfortable. What do you do? Before the Nike Benassi Lax Slide, you had to wear the kicks or opt for some obnoxious basketball sandal.

Nike and Lacrosse Unlimited have fixed your problem. We now bring you the Cadillac of sandals…the best thing that’s happened to summer lax since misting fans. We just received a huge shipment, so look for them in stores, and they’ll be online soon for order.

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Simply En Fuego. It’s a hat trick now for Steph. First it was the Lime Squeeze. Then it was the chrome 6 string. Now it’s the Tribal Daddy. The queen of exotic stringing resides in Miller Place. Actually, she lives near by in some unheard of town, but frequents the Lacrosse Unlimited out there.

Rocky Point’s rise to prominence is starting to come into focus. The Palasek contingent has something to do with as well, but being able to throw passes on the ear by way of Lacrosse Unlimited Miller Place stringing could be phase 2.

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With six points on two goals and four assists in Saturday’s 12-7 victory over No. 7 Virginia, Ryan Young leads No. 6 Maryland in both assists (15) and points (27) this season.

And he’s thriving despite turmoil in his personal life.

The senior attackman’s mother, Maria, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the winter of 2008, his freshman year. This season, the Manhasset, N.Y., native wears his helmet with the word “MOM” etched on a piece of paper taped on the bottom part, near his left jawline.

Young told The Diamondback, the campus newspaper, that his mother is never far from his thoughts. “I wear this little thing on my helmet,” Young told the paper’s Jacob Engelke in an article published in Wednesday’s editions. “I think about her every time before I go out there. It motivates me and helps me play my hardest.”

Terps coach John Tillman said the situation has been rough for Young, who returned home immediately after the team’s 9-8 overtime loss to Duke on March 5 due to concerns that Maria Young had taken a turn for the worse.

“He had to go home after the Duke game to be there because we weren’t sure what was going to happen,” Tillman said Wednesday. “His immediate family felt like it was important for him to get up there. So he did leave for a few days that week. We supported him 100 percent and told him to come back when he felt like he needed to. … He came back three days later, and it seemed like she was moving in a positive direction. I think she’s had some ups and downs, and we’re hopeful that she continues the ups and stays strong.”

As a show of support, Young’s teammates have attached purple ribbons to their helmets, and Tillman wears a black Under Armour hat with a purple insignia during games. Young has partnered with The Lusgarten Foundation, a non-profit group dedicated to raising awareness about pancreatic cancer.

While few players would have the strength to perform in practices and in games, Tillman said Young has borne the strain of his family’s pain without complaint.

“You don’t meet a lot of guys like him,” Tillman said. “He’s so passionate and so energetic and he’s a very caring guy, a family-first guy. He puts his heart and soul into everything that he does. He cares so much about his mom. It’s been tough on him because he wants to help in every way possible and be there to help support her. … His teammates have done a great job of rallying around him and being there to help him support he and his family. He’s done just an outstanding job of being able to juggle all of it.”

Lacrosse Playground featured timely fight videos this afternoon, and in an Aaron Burr-like fashion, beat us off the draw for Thursday Throwdown. We need to double our efforts to hold serve, but in other news enjoy the thumping.

Alex Ryan scored his third goal on an assist from Liam Kearney with 10 seconds left to give Friends Academy a 6-5 victory over visiting Carey in non-league boys lacrosse Wednesday.

Kearney had won the faceoff after Ryan tied it at 5 with 19 seconds to play on an unassisted goal. Quentin Dellafera added two goals, and Will Sands had a goal and an assist for Friends (3-2).

Jake Robison led Carey (3-2) with two goals and two assists.

Hicksville 7, Oceanside 6: Mike McIlwee scored the winner off an assist from Pat McCormick with 23.5 seconds left for Hicksville (1-1) in Conference I. McIlwee and Sal Geneva each finished with two goals and one assist. Austin Akner led Oceanside (1-1) with three goals.

Valley Stream District 7, Uniondale 5: Connor Sciacca scored two of his four goals in the fourth quarter to give Valley Stream District (1-1) the lead in Conference I. The teams were tied at 5 after the third quarter. Henry Waslo added two goals and three assists, and Nick Miller made 13 saves. Donte Fyffe led Uniondale (1-1) with two goals.

Huntington 10, Islip 7: Nick Saputo scored three goals forHuntington (1-1), which outscored Islip 6-1 in the second quarter, in Division II. Will Coffey and Jack Cutrone each added two goals and one assist, and John McGrath made 16 saves. John Maher led Islip (1-1) with two goals.

GIRLS LACROSSE

Bethpage 9, New Hyde Park 8: Lindsay Cafiero, who finished with five goals, scored the winner with just more than two minutes remaining in the second half for Bethpage (2-0) in Conference B-II. Erin Reilly tied the score at 8 for Bethpage. Brittany Bird added three goals and Brianna Whelan made 18 saves. Ciara McCullagh led New Hyde Park (0-2) with four goals.

Sewanhaka 12, Elmont 7: Lindsey Montoya scored three goals with four assists for Sewanhaka (3-0) in Conference B-III. Marianela Gimenez and Sabrina Orologio each added three goals and one assist. Chazara Odom led Elmont (0-3) with five goals.

Islip 13, Babylon 12: Taryn Ohlmiller scored five goals with one assist and Paige Constantino added three goals and one assist for Islip (1-2) in Division II. Devyn Antolini and Julie Piccione each scored four goals for Babylon (1-2).

We shipped Robert Downey Jr. out a pair of these upon arrival. From the rivets to the airbrush-esque detail, has Lacrosse Unlimited ever produced a more impressive short? The office was legitimately abuzz about the Ironmen’s “Mona Lisa.”

JoJo, the head of the teamsters, has been slowly incorporating fades and pixelated fades in his swag for a month now, but this is a league unto himself. It’s not a fade out. It’s more like fade in, fade out, but with no real pattern. He’s managed to mimic an element found in nature. First we mimicked wood dye, and now we have steel shorts.